Dave the Diver is a chaotic, impressive management sim dream

Dave the Diver it should not work. It’s an ever-expanding Jenga tower of mechanics and task management that somehow never topples. The new characters, flashy cutscenes, and minigames feel like they defy all assumptions, but they’re definitely not.

Instead, developer Mintrocket has created a game where it’s important to not be shy and have fun, no matter how silly the process is. At its core, Dave the Diver It is a combination of fishing and restaurant management simulation. As Dave, you go spearfishing during the day and catch ingredients to serve at a sushi restaurant at night. For most management simulations, this loop alone is probably a sufficient hook.

but, Dave the Diver, that’s just the basis. In-game, he appears within a day or two as a graduate student and becomes involved in a mission to collect local wildlife. And then an underwater archaeologist arrives with the project. Then comes the geek arms dealer, followed by a boatload of belligerent Greenpeace activists, Pokemon-like collectible card enthusiasts, farmers, and a few pirates. It’s hard to explain what would happen without sounding like a toddler telling a bedtime story “And!”

I got ahead of myself – it’s hard not to when talking about this game. Dave says he goes diving twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, and at night he runs a restaurant where he turns the catch into sushi.

During the day, I swim through an ever-changing underwater environment with dozens of species of fish. Fish are harder and more likely to attack me (not always) get hurt However, the dive is ultimately unsuccessful due to faster oxygen depletion, but swims to the bottom right while swimming. Sushi made from the easiest fish to catch doesn’t make much money, so you’ll have to dive deeper to actually make money. You can use that money to upgrade your equipment. You can have bigger oxygen tanks, better harpoon guns, and more storage space for your caught fish. However, not all fish can be bagged with one spear gun shot, so you may have to deplete them until a quick-time event of button mashing occurs.

During that time, I recovered lost packages for a business partner with a dark past, found special materials for the upcoming Jellyfish Festival, gathered parts to make a net gun, and helped a graduate student. Don’t forget to help out with your research project or save some money from Pirate Dolphin.

Image: Mintrocket via Polygon

After I finish my work and buy a lot of fish, I go back to the sushi restaurant, where I am in charge of everything from the interior design to grinding the wasabi and setting up the menu. Managing a menu means finding the tastiest recipes I can make based on what I’ve caught recently. And you have to do it without over-preparing or over-preparing. Too much preparation will go to waste. In other words, I’m finding a Goldilocks solution.

During service, I run back and forth pouring tea, delivering orders across the bar and moving plates. Hurry up or customers will get angry and leave bad reviews on the restaurant’s non-Instagram in-game account. Once you have enough good reviews, you can hire staff to serve and cook.

And on his next dive, Dave discovers a civilization of mermaids.

When transcribed, it sounds chaotic and disorienting. But it’s not. Instead, it’s a delicately balanced tower of interconnected stupidity. It’s been 20 minutes since the Jenga game started. There is only one block at the bottom and there are holes here and there, but the tower will not fall.

Adhesive that holds firmly Dave the Diver together? Brilliant cutscenes. A taciturn chef invents new recipes in his 30-second anime-inspired scene of knives and flashing cherry blossoms.Food critics sample specialties and imitate the same scene Ratatouille Through a pixelated lens. It’s hard to skip this energetic scene, even if it’s repetitive. Even what could be a single-use piece is made with love. They up the stakes on stupid upgrades to a boss fight-worthy crescendo.

It’s the constant, self-conscious, tongue-in-cheek, escalating absurdity that keeps me hooked. Spend several in-game days fishing, decorating, and crafting a sniper rifle to take down the giant squid that stole the Arms Dealer’s new animated figure.

Dave the Diver It’s not particularly difficult, and you can overcome challenges and upgrade without too much effort. Fulfilling orders at a sushi restaurant is tough until Dave hires a server twice as fast as him. Getting attacked by sharks is just a matter of until you upgrade your gun. But I’m no better at spearfishing than I was when the game started. Improving your mechanical skills is not important.

Image: Mintrocket via Polygon

what makes it so Dave the Diver It’s going very well and I’m curious to see what happens next. Another game that just added mechanics and plot devices without a plan might feel like a clichéd premise.but Dave‘s kitchen sink approach somehow feels like a perfectly logical escalation, albeit absurd. It looks like a Tim Robinson sketch in game form. A precarious pile of mechanics and mini-games that never fall apart because the balancing act is so much fun.

Dave the Diver It was released on Steam on June 28th. This game was reviewed using a pre-release download code provided by Mintrocket. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn a commission on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.